Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

That is welcome and the wildlife crime unit in particular is a very welcome move from this Government which shows that we are beginning to take this biodiversity crisis seriously. I know there was a historical issue that made it difficult to fill vacancies and that is why that issue in west Waterford existed according to my information.

In recruiting these rangers, the other thing I would like to impress on the Minister of State is that we have to make these sustainable and good jobs. We are talking about highly qualified people who are often very motivated and who are drawn into the field because of a particular love of biodiversity or our natural world. We also have to make sure that this is a proper and sustainable career choice. We have to make sure that the terms and conditions are such that we are paying qualified people at a rate that it will make sense for them to continue that on and to take the conservation of our wildlife and natural world very seriously as a career choice into the future.

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